Malaysians have never really been all that good with money. An indicator would be a new survey conducted by financial comparison website RinggitPlus and platforms under media company Rev Asia, which found several worrying aspects about how we’re managing our finances.

The Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey, which collected a total of 2,996 responses within a week, found that 59% of respondents do not have enough savings to last them more than three months without income. Half of them said they can’t survive for more than a month.

Thirty-four per cent of the respondents admitted to spending more than what they earn each month, essentially living from pay cheque to pay cheque. They said they don’t save a single sen each month, while 32% save less than RM500 of their monthly income.

The survey also found that 21% of respondents do not invest money for the future. There also seems to be a general distrust for financial products, with 42% of respondents not owning a credit card. A small percentage (18.39%) are not covered by insurance.

It’s truly all down to prudent spending and being able to take advantage of financial products. “With a bit of basic personal finance knowledge, most Malaysians will be able to save hundreds of ringgit without changing their lifestyle significantly, simply by optimising the financial products they use to suit their needs,” said Liew Ooi Hann, CEO of RinggitPlus.